The British parliamentarians wrote in the letter that “business as usual” for arms exports to Israel is “totally unacceptable” amid the ongoing war on Gaza.
130 parliamentarians signed a letter urging the British government to ban arms sales to Israel, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
The move reportedly came “ amid signs that Israel intends to ignore the UN security council resolution passed this week calling on all sides to commit to a ceasefire.”
“The letter, coordinated by the Labour MP Zarah Sultana, was signed by 107 MPs and 27 peers including the former Labour Middle East minister Peter Hain (…) the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Conservative peer Nosheena Mobarik,” The Guardian reported.
According to the paper, the parliamentarians wrote in the letter that “business as usual” for arms exports to Israel is “totally unacceptable” amid the ongoing war on Gaza.
Noting that the UK government had suspended its arms sales to Israel, in two previous wars on the Strip, the letter reportedly concluded that “the scale of violence committed by the Israeli military is vastly more deadly, but the UK government has failed to act”.
UN Resolution in Gaza is Binding – China Challenges US at Security Council
UNSC Resolution
The United Nations Security Council voted on Monday for a resolution demanding “an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a sustainable lasting ceasefire.”
The resolution, which was written by the ten elected members to the council and was proposed in the council by Mozambique’s representative, passed with 14 votes in favor and the US abstaining.
The United States said the resolution was non-binding, but “the UK does not share that interpretation,” according to The Guardian.
‘Anatomy of a Genocide’
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights Situation in the Palestinian territories, said in a report on Monday that there are “reasonable grounds” to determine that Israel has committed several acts of genocide in its ongoing war on Gaza.
“I find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide against Palestinians as a group in Gaza has been met,” Albanese told the UN rights body in Geneva, presenting a report called ‘The Anatomy of a Genocide’.
Damning UN Report – Israel Crossed ‘Threshold’ of Genocide in Gaza
In the report, the Special Rapporteur urged “member states to enforce the prohibition of genocide in accordance with their non-derogable obligations”.
Therefore it recommended to “immediately implement an arms embargo on Israel, as it appears to have failed to comply with the binding measures ordered by the ICJ on 26 January 2024”.
ICJ Ruling
On January 26, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take measures to prevent and punish direct incitement of genocide in its ongoing war in Gaza.
“The state of Israel shall (..) take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of the genocide convention,” the ICJ said.
‘Decisive Victory’ – ICJ Delivers Ruling on Genocide in Gaza
An overwhelming majority of the ICJ’s 17-judge panel voted to order urgent measures, which covered most of South Africa’s request, aside from ordering a halt to the Israeli war on Gaza.
The court ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the genocide convention and also ensure that the Israeli army do not commit any genocidal acts in Gaza.
Genocide Continues
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 32,490 Palestinians have been killed, and 74,889 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire.’
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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